2011 Deck – Week 15

I had a set of photos from Sunday that I had placed confidence in to choose a Deck photo from, I had already “decided” what the post would look like and that the image would be in colour… then I went to accompany Nikhil on a photo-walk yesterday and came away with a photograph I just couldn’t put aside.

At the time that I took it, I was not wholly satisfied, I saw too many things in the scene that I thought would be distracting or intrusive in the shot, but then I downloaded them all and started sorting through them, and although I probably gave Nikhil the idea that I wasn’t getting what I felt I should from the scene (which at the time was true), I think I got what the scene offered rather than what I wanted.

There are still elements in the photograph that annoy me (but only if I look at it very large, if I ever have to print it large I may have to “edit” further.)

Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

This is a view of a portion of the Seven Ponds monument in the Botanical Gardens, as seen from the Mausoleum. Laziness played a large part in the choice of lens, I had the “kit lens” on the camera at the time, 18-55mm Canon lens, which most “professionals” would shudder at the thought of using, but I was too lazy to dive into the bag and use anything else 🙂

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16 thoughts on “2011 Deck – Week 15”

This is always the problem I face. When you take the picture you have certain very definite ideas. Then when you get back to the computer you realise that you really had no idea. This is why I have (mostly) stopped judging my photos when I’m taking them. I guess it is one of those skills that you have to develop after many years of taking photos.

The only problem I have is, why would you be ashamed to use your 18-55 lens? Irregardless of it being a “kit” lens, it still can do the job, whether you are a professional or amateur. A kit lens is named that because it usually is sold with the camera as a package. The lens can also be purchased by itself, and therefore it wouldn’t be called a kit lens. It has nothing to do with taking the picture itself, only that it may or may not have the quality optics of an “L” series lens.

Bob, thanks, you really know how to boost a guy up 🙂
I am not ashamed to use it, I guess I was being defensive, I’ve seen too many people being criticised for using “kit lenses” when doing “serious” photography. You are right, there is nothing wrong with the kit lens, I have found that each lens I own has its quirks, and I think that good photos can be produced with each one, if you work within the lens’ strengths (or even its weaknesses). I use the Kit Lens for a lot of close-quarter work, especially product photography, but I still favour my Tamron for general shooting, but I was too lazy to change lenses and the Tamron starts at 18mm too, so I didn’t lose anything in terms of that 🙂 Thanks again Bob!!!

Thanks Cindy, I didn’t say it was “no good”, but there are those who scoff at them, I think it’s sharp where I need it and has a nice short tele range for close quarter photography and landscapes (when a wider lens is not available) 🙂

There are several reasons why I like this image. First of all it is great frame for the monument. In the smaller version, it almost looks like the monument is some kind of strange tree. I like the three pillars, each has a distinctive shape and texture. From the left, the first is dark and textured, the next is round and smooth with good light on it and the third has an even different texture. I alsomreally like the floor, the design is cool and leads me to the monument. Finally, I like the hint of reflection in the pools, I’m always looking for more reflections, but I like that I can see part of the monument in a couple of them. I think it’s a nice capture and you might want to lose part of the frame tom the right of the third pillar, it’s busy, bright and distracting with nothing to see over there. I use my 18-50mm most of the time now. It’s my standard for driving shots and “big” macro shots. Not sure why you would hesitate to use it. If you were able to get the shot you envisioned with the kit lens, then its not bad to use it.

Thanks Jonathon, I like that you’ve detailed all of this, it makes me appreciate the image even more. The place has some definite possibilities for photography, trying to get good shots without intrusive elements was the hard part 🙂

I like the framing in this shot besides the perspective and geometric shapes. Interesting to see the pillars are of different shapes – I see a square pillar, cylindrical pillar, and may be hexagonal pillar 😉